# Behavioral interview

A behavioral interview is a hiring format that asks candidates to describe specific past experiences, such as a conflict they resolved, on the premise that how someone has acted before predicts how they will act on the job.

The format sits opposite hypothetical questions about what a candidate might do.

**Behavioral interview** — A behavioral interview asks candidates to describe specific past experiences on the premise that past behavior predicts future performance. Questions start with "tell me about a time when," and interviewers listen for a concrete story, cutting down on the guesswork of asking what a candidate might do.

Behavioral questions show up at nearly every hiring stage, favored for evaluating soft skills hard to read from a resume: teamwork, conflict resolution, ownership. Interviewers often score answers against a shared rubric, and candidates are coached to structure responses with STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result).

Intervieux scores every completed interview across five dimensions, including a dedicated Behavioral score with written reasoning, so a candidate practicing this format gets feedback on whether a story held together, not just whether they filled the time.

## Frequently asked questions

### What makes a question behavioral?

A question is behavioral when it asks about something that actually happened. "Tell me about a time you disagreed with a manager" is behavioral; "What would you do if" is situational. Interviewers use the past-tense version to check for a real, verifiable pattern.

### Is the STAR method required for behavioral interviews?

No framework is required. STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) is simply the most common way to keep an answer specific. Interviewers grade on whether the detail was concrete, and STAR is a reliable way to get there.

### How is a behavioral interview different from a competency-based interview?

The two overlap heavily. A competency-based interview maps its questions to a predefined list of role competencies, scoring each answer against that named competency. A general behavioral interview can skip tying questions to a label.

## Related pages

- [Browse open roles](/jobs)

## Practice a real behavioral round

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